The church in the late 1800's with original pews with doors and middle partition:
The current pastor of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Augusta, Georgia has had the pews marked off for physical distancing.
What's interesting to me and I find a bit funny is that these pews are not the original pews from 1863 when this church was built but ones taken from the closed in 1970 Sacred Heart Church six blocks away. It is now a secular venue, Sacred Heart Cultural Center.
If you look, the blue tape cuts the pews in half. The original pews had a wooden partition now the middle. In fact the original pews had doors too! And back in the day you paid "pew rent" and God forbid anyone else sat in your pew. I think this was common in many places and in Protestant churches too.
As a young "Macy's" worker in downtown Augusta in the early 70's, I would often walk over to Most Holy Trinity for their daily 12:15 pm Mass. There was always a big crowd of downtown workers at this Mass on their lunch break and my lunch break too. I often went to the Vigil Mass on Saturday after work. It was at 6:30 PM at that time. Little did I know then, that I would be pastor of this same church from 1991 to 2004 and raise funds and oversee a major fundraiser to restor the "antebellum" new church which was begun in 1857 by the pastor who would become the second bishop of Savannah, John Barry, buried beneath the church with many other priests.
The church was completed in 1863 with slave labor, many of whom were baptized in the old church next to it built in 1810. After 1863 Catholic slaves were allowed, obligated, to attend Mass at the new church. Thus the parish was integrated during slavery. Interesting, no?
In 1970, the parish merged with two other downtown parishes which were closed making it a very integrated parish with a majority black population.
When I got there in 1991, the place was falling apart. By 1996 we began the restoration which took a year. It was completely replastered, repainted and redecorated. The crucifixion scene above the altar is original although restored with the side paintings new. The altar is the original altar and the Mensa was seperated from the reredos in 1967 thus used continuously even after Vatican II. No faux altar.
The three windows above the altar go back to 1863 and were restored. The side windows are from Meyers of Munich added in 1917 or so.
A new sacristy was added behind the church (altar) where the antebellum rectory mansion once was, torn town in the late 50's.
The choir loft was expanded and a second small bathroom added to the vestibule.
Conrad Schmidt and company restored the interior and used a new plastering technique that used a fiberglass mesh. They said this would prevent the plaster from disintegrating for 100 years. The interior still looks as new and fresh as it did after the restoration in 1997.
15 comments:
Conrad Schmidt is top notch. They re-enchanted the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Notre Dame Campus after a disastrous denuding of the Basilica in the late 1960s.
What size is the membership of Holy Trinity? I would suspect it is not easy keeping downtown churches of any denomination in business these days. A lot of Catholics in Augusta "headed for the Hill" after the great fire and flooding of the mid 1910s, up to then newly-established St. Marys on the Hill. And now I hear their membership is dropping as more Catholics head to Columbia County (St. Teresa of Avila). "Heading for the Hill" made Sacred Heart at Greene and 13th Streets less viable over time, leading to its closure in the summer of 1971. Could not justify two Catholic churches in downtown Augusta so close together.
By the early 2000's we had almost 1,400 households and about 300 in CCD, another 60 or so in Catholic schools. There were very active lay run ministries including CCW and K of C. We were about #4 in the diocese in Offertory:
1. St Mary on the Hill
2. St. James Savannah
3. st. Anne, Columbus
4. Most Holy Trinity, Augusta
Today MHT has about 500 households.
Agree with TJM regarding Conrad Schmitt.
Calming, ordered interior. Thank goodness it mostly intact. Looking forward to the day when the mensa and reredos are reunited and that fixture is used as intended. Going at it with a pry bar hasn't furthered sacrality, attendance, evangelization etc.
1400 households a pretty impressive size 20 years ago given the significant depopulation of downtown augusta. You say only 500 today---that is a pretty sharp reduction! Is that due mainly to aging population or people moving out of that area, maybe over to South Carolina or Columbia County? Looks like a big sanctuary for a relatively small parish.
Anon12:42
No, not entirely due to that. We had some rough years after FRAJM, and particularly 2009-2011. Over 200 families left in that era. I did as well, for a year, but then returned. ‘Nuff said. FRAJM will not comment I’m sure, so better left alone.
Citizen is referring to the time I was pastor at MHT.
Maybe Citizen would like to tell the story - the whole story - which began a few years before I was sent there as an "emergency replacement" for the pastor who departed, shall I say, abruptly.
Citizen - the whole story,
“Father” Kavanaugh,
We’d be interested in your version, including how you turned things around, returning and new members, vocations, etc
Fr. McDonald, my wife and I have loved MHT since we first start attending in 1994 shortly after we were married. The beauty of the physical structure (which was truly enhanced by the restoration project) was a draw, but it was the true beauty of the people representing diverse cultures and their collective commitment to faith, worship and fellowship that won our hearts over. Fr. McDonald, I believe that you had a strong role in nourishing that spirit that lives on to this day. This is your true legacy in my opinion.
As a downtown parish, MHT has always been dependent upon parishioners from nearby Columbia County and South Carolina residents. There have been many reasons for people leaving MHT over the past dozen years or so. Part of the exodus was due to nearby parishes introducing education and youth programs that parents felt better met the needs of their families. There are other parts of the MHT story that are messy, but I would venture that no one knows the whole story.
Rather than dwell on the past, I prefer to look forward to the ongoing work of our Lord as it relates to MHT. My wife and I and fellow parishioners love our current pastor Fr. Marius. New families are joining MHT, and we are hopeful about its future.
In accordance with current Democratic Party guidelines, desperate to obfuscate their past and current racist practices, this Church should be burned down!
Yes, Dave, I agree with all you say here. Fr. McDonald rebuilt MHT physically and liturgically. His influence is felt to this day.
We were married there in 1977 and raised our family there...God-willing, we hope to be buried from there. MHT was and is a beautiful, cherished part of our lives. The year I spent elsewhere was the most painful of my spiritual life, and I deeply regretted it. The troubles passed, as they tend to do; we were fewer in number, but parish life moved on TBTG.
As you mentioned, we have a wonderful new priest whose work ethic is unstoppable, and whose faith life is very deep. He has carried us through this pandemic with beautiful live-streamed Masses, novenas, rosaries and non-stop encouragement. His reverence and spirituality are inspiring. We are blessed and thank God for him.
My time at Most Holy Trinity saw growth, because whenever people were put out with one or the other of the pastors in the other parishes, they came downtown. This is especially true of St. Teresa's when it was on Pleasant Home Road. We had a huge number of Columbia County parishioners. In fact out of the 1,400 at the time, only about 200 households lived in our parish boundaries.
In a sense MHT was/is a non-territorial parish but not by canon law. The biggest draw during my time was the tradition of high liturgy which was begun under Fr. William Simmons (RIP). Liturgy and good liturgy, traditional liturgy is the key for this parish.
With the new St. Teresa's in Grovetown and new leadership and a splendidly beautiful new church that is quite traditional with many very traditional aspect to the building and sacred art from altars to stations, this has contributed to MHT's fewer number and the fact that fewer Catholics, young people in particular, attend Mass.
There were a huge number of the "greatest generation" at MHT in my time, but guess, what, all of them for the most part have gone to their eternal reward. This group, especially from St. Mary on the Hill, whose heritage was MHT, were very, very, very generous us at that time and made possible all the financial things we did.
"Liturgy and good liturgy, traditional liturgy is the key for this parish."
I should think this is what all parishes should be striving for. Unfortunately, good liturgy seems to be an afterthought in many parishes or, just outright ignored in an equal if not greater number (thinking of the recent first communion posting on this blog with the first communicants gathered around the back of the altar (oh my goodness, save them, they can't participate!!!) with the overly attentive/melodramatic guitar group inventing meaningfulness nearby).
Citizen – Beautiful description of the blessing that Father Mariusz has been to MHT. Well said!
This article got a mention in the "Best of Catholic Blogging" in the July 12 online edition of the National Catholic Register:
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/tito-edwards/fisherman-stumbles-upon-14th-century-madonna-statue-lovely-holy-trinity-chu
Keep up the good work Father and congratulations!
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